إدراك المصريين لتأثرية الآخرين بالشائعات على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي بالتطبيق على جائحة كورونا : دراسة ميدانية

Abstract EN

The study aimed to reveal the extent to which Egyptians are aware of the effect of rumors on others on social media by applying to the Covid 19 pandemic, through testing the Third Person Effect Theory.

The study relied on the survey method and used the questionnaire.

It was applied to a quota sample of 600 individuals from social networking sites users, distributed evenly over three governorates (Cairo, Gharbia, and Sohag) by 200 individuals per governorate, during the period from 19/4/2020 to 13/5/2020.

The study concluded with several results, the most important of which are:
- Proven the validity of the hypothesis that there were statistically significant differences between the level of awareness of the sample to be affected by rumors on social networking sites compared to the level of awareness of their impact on others.

It is the cognitive hypothesis of the third-person Effect theory formulated by Philips Davison in 1983.

- Proven the validity of the hypothesis that the cognitive space gap (the difference between the degree of individual affectedness and the degree of others affectedness) varies depending on the demographic characteristics of the respondents.

- Proven the validity of the hypothesis that awareness of the third person affected by the rumors on social networking sites increases when the greater social distance with others exists.

- Proven the validity of the hypothesis that the existence of a correlation between the cognitive gap area and the degree of public support for the imposition of censorship on the social networking sites (behavioral hypothesis).

- The study recommends the official authorities need to address the role played by social networking sites in the transfer and circulation of news and information in various fields, especially in areas related to health, and to exploit it positively.

- Also, it recommends that official institutions should address the rumors through the establishment of an independent media center to monitor, track and analyze rumors, and track their sources and respond to them in order to refute and disprove.